Chapter 3

A Brutal Role Swap: Suppose Your Exploitive Workplace Transferred You to Their Worst Department

“I refuse to live a life where anyone else is using me.”

One young man had made that his life’s motto: Amidine Oxo.

He’d been a street urchin, growing up picking pockets and stealing what he could.

“If I want something, I take it, no matter what it is, no matter what I’ve gotta do.”

Fueled by greed, he never thought twice about joining the Rokujou mob, becoming a part of the Rising Blue Dragon.

What waited for him there…was shabby treatment. He was an errand boy. Cannon fodder.

Only those with learning were allowed to run any part of the syndicate. The bosses and big shots earned those roles not through skill in a fight, but from higher education.

He wanted to prove himself—but the only jobs available to him were little better than the petty theft he’d grown up on. He constantly faced the humiliation of being a have-not.

But then…an aging gentleman and a tanned boy had appeared.

The gentleman seemed like the kind of battle-scarred veteran crime lord you could rely on, and Amidine didn’t hesitate to vent his frustrations.

“I want it all. Power and fame to rival these damn intellectuals.”

“Then join us,” the tanned boy offered. “We can put you in charge, no prob.”

“In exchange,” the old man said, “when you control the mob, we want you developing cutting-edge weaponry—and your help making movies popular the world over. With our assistance, naturally.”

“Why not become the lead actor yourself? There’s your fame! Passion! We’ll supply all the movie equipment.”

Offered a way out of his predicament, Amidine leaped at the chance.

With their help, Amidine was soon a made man in the Rising Blue Dragon. And by his own talent, he’d claimed the boss’s seat.

Hiding that fact from the world, he began producing films with himself as the star. His natural good looks proved very popular, and he was now the first person anyone in Rokujou thought of when they heard the words movie star. In return for this fame, he helped the gentleman and boy with their requests, using his star status to leverage politicians to their side.

The Rising Blue Dragon did whatever they had to, growing stronger and stronger, making themselves a central part of the government. Amidine was in charge and world-famous. He had everything he’d wanted—except for one thing.

“I’m just their errand boy!”

The cravings within never left him. The twisted drive that fueled him never let him go.

“If I had their wealth and resources, their knowledge… Perhaps I would at last be fulfilled.”

The technology they offered was far beyond what anyone else had. And their fortune… If he could just make it all his, then—

“I’ll be fulfilled. I’m done being used…”

It was time he used them. To do that, he needed their unquestioning trust.

That was why he accepted their every order, no matter how unpleasant. That was what brought him to this day.

Amidine got out of bed feeling out of sorts.

Smoking his morning cigarette, he stared at himself in the mirror and spat, “Morning, asshole.”

He was still living at someone else’s beck and call.

“Bumping people off… No different from when I was a hired hit man.”

Swearing, he put his swanky suit on.

Always did feel like this after a murder. Same as I did when I was at the bottom, treated like trash.

A beautiful room, top-tier tobacco, luxury like he’d never even dreamed of in those days, but the aching discontent within always gnawed at him.

I don’t even know what they’re after. Why is making movies so important they fund theaters in every country? Because they want to film Lloyd’s heroics for everyone to see? Who the hell is Lloyd anyway?!

Their love for Lloyd was beyond the comprehension of any ordinary man.

His nerves on edge, Amidine angrily fixed his hair.

Doesn’t matter. Wait and see. I’m gonna take it all from you someday.

This mantra straightened his heart like the comb did his hair.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in!”

A member of the film crew entered—an employee of the Rising Blue Dragon.

“Good morning, Boss. Your carriage awaits.”

“Call me by my name,” Amidine snapped. “Whether we’re in private or not. Switching it up will just make it more likely you slip up when it matters. Don’t want that, do we?”

“S-sorry, Amidine… You came back late last night. Anything amiss?”

“I sent the man in question to the harbor. He’s fish food now. Wait for me outside.”

The underling bowed and left.

Amidine made sure his tie was perfect, then left his room.

In the carriage, he sat with his arms folded, his eyes closed, going over the events of the night before.

That man—Roy, was it? His face when he learned he’d been betrayed… He’ll come back to haunt me someday.

When they reached the set, voices called out to him, greeting him happily.

His grim look of a moment before forgotten, he met them all with a pleasant smile, responding to every greeting.

Haunt me all you like. You can’t get fame and revolutionary technology without a few sacrifices. Watch with envy as I make it all mine. But for now, the movie. No time to spend on idle thoughts.

He slapped himself lightly on the cheek, focusing his mind, totally committed to playing the movie star.

The cadets and soldiers from Azami were waiting, looking nervous. When they saw Amidine looking, they began politely greeting him.

“Good morning!”

In the crowd…was Lloyd—in his grown-up form.

“You’re haunting me alreadyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!” Amidine shrieked.

Lloyd looked confused. “Um, is something wrong?”

“What isn’t?! It’s just yesterday! Not even a full day! I know I was thinking you could haunt me if you wanted, but isn’t this too soon?!”

“Haunt? Um, aren’t we meeting now?” Lloyd in Roy form just blinked at him.

Amidine was getting increasingly confused.

Who is this guy?! I know for a fact I shot him through the heart and watched the harbor for an hour to make sure he didn’t surface! No human can stay down that long!

Lloyd could, unfortunately. He’s from Kunlun.

Amidine wasn’t done yet.

And why is he here? He knows I’m the boss of the Rising Blue Dragon! I told him! And then I shot him through the heart! Why does he look happy to see me? Who would be? No, wait…

Amidine found an improbable explanation for an impossible situation.

Does he have amnesia? He lost so much blood he can’t remember any of that? Of course! That explains it!

“Oh, Amidine, thanks for the acting tips last night.”

“So you do remember?!”

His last shred of hope dissipated. But why was he calling it acting tips? Amidine clutched his spinning head.

What does that mean?! Why is he okay?! Didn’t I shoot him?!

Then a light bulb went off over his head.

Oh! I see! Of course an agent from Azami would wear a bulletproof vest! And he knows full well Sardin would never believe I’m the boss of the Rising Blue Dragon without solid evidence! That’s why he’s playing dumb, seeing how I react! Looking for his shot at stealing back the pendant!

Amidine gave Lloyd an impressed look, having talked himself into admiring his opponent’s gumption. Like the fabled duel between a conniving fox and a cunning tanuki. Like a consort playing innocent and a regular john. Like Hajime Kindaichi, alleged grandson of a great detective, and the culprit. Suddenly trapped in a battle of wits, Amidine kicked his mind into high gear.

All of this showed on his face—a far cry from his usual confident charm—and that attracted Sardin’s attention.

“Something ailing you, Amidine?”

“N-not at all, Your Majesty.”

“Well, if you say so!” Sardin’s faith in him was clearly unwavering.

Now Amidine just had to do something about Lloyd.

If he gets the pendant back from me and uses it to free Ubi, then we lose our trump card and can no longer force Sardin to keep Rokujou under our thumb. Worse—if Sardin finds out I have the pendant, I’m blown!

The pendant was in his pocket right now—a pendant Amidine had no business holding on to. This could be decisive evidence. If he was seen with it, the king would know instantly who he was. He was in trouble, like a killer concealing the bloodstained murder weapon.

Just as Amidine was starting to panic, he spotted two men watching the set in the distance.

Th-the sponsors! They came to watch us filming?

They were on the balcony of a café overlooking the location. Another light bulb went off, this one even bigger.

Yes! I could ask them to kill Roy for me! They should be up to the task! And they don’t want anything disrupting the movie business, either!

Amidine raced over to the café to talk to them.

“Hmm, I don’t see Lloyd anywhere… What a shame.”

“I heard the cadets from Azami were here and came running, but…hmm.”

Sou and Shouma were elegantly sipping tea, searching for Lloyd.

Then Amidine came rushing over, out of breath.

“Yo, Amidine,” Shouma greeted, blinking at him. “What’s up? Jogging to shed a few pounds? Passion!”

“Please!” Amidine begged, bowing low. “I need your help!”

Sou and Shouma glanced at each other, taken aback.

“Hmm, perhaps start with some water,” Sou said, pouring him a glass.

Amidine chugged it and then began to explain the situation.

All about Sardin’s plan to bring in Azami soldiers as backup. How Amidine had failed to off their main agent…and how that could disrupt the entire movie enterprise.

He switched between acknowledging his own failings and offering apologies between explanations.

Sou and Shouma listened gravely.

“If we don’t do something, it could all go under. But with your help… You don’t need to kill him. You could lock him up somewhere or…or even just get him kicked out of the military!”

Sou offered absolutely nothing.

Looking increasingly desperate, Amidine admitted, “I know, killing people is my job. But if I make the wrong move here, my cover’s blown. They’ll know I’m with the mob.”

“Listen. This is very important,” Shouma said. “Was one of the Azami cadets named Lloyd? Cute kid, chestnut hair?”

“Er, no…I’ve read all the paperwork, and there was nobody named Lloyd.”

Amidine blinked at him, rattled by the question. Paying this no heed…

“Then let’s send them packing!” Shouma cried.

“Mm.”

They readily agreed to the task at hand.

What does Lloyd have to do with anything?!

Amidine kept a smile plastered on his face, disguising the screaming inside. “Thank you,” he said, bowing his head low.

“Developing the world is vital,” Sou added. “If they would interfere with that, they are not welcome here.”

Amidine relaxed at last.

Then Shouma asked, “So who was it that didn’t die when you shot them? Selen? Her belt, Vritra, might be able to pull off a trick like that, but we can’t kill her! She’s Lloyd’s friend.”

The wind back in his sails, Amidine pointed to the man who refused to die—Roy Akizuki, aka Lloyd Belladonna.

“That boy there. Roy Akizuki.”

““………”” They both froze instantly.

“Um? Hello? Is something wrong?”

Neither seemed to hear Amidine’s question. They were both staring fixedly at the young man under discussion.

“What do you make of it, Shouma?”

“That’s definitely Lloyd. The way he’s keeping that piece of candy in his cheek, the way he shifts his weight from side to side, the way he’s fussing with his hair—all Lloyd things.”

These two Lloyd addicts had seen through his disguise instantly. Shouma was being downright creepy.

“Has his current form…been caused by one of Alka’s runes?”

“I bet the chief just wanted to dress him up and convinced him extras need to be tall or something. And Akizuki… Isn’t that her old name?”

“Ruka Akizuki, I believe. Eug got all clever with it and turned that into Aruka, then Alka.”

Amidine was feeling entirely left out now, not understanding a word of this. He elected to listen in silence. Who are these people? I’d kill ’em in a second if it weren’t for their money and technology…

A moment later, they both turned toward him.

“Are you done now?” Amidine asked. “Then please, eliminate this—”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Shouma snapped. “We’d never do that.”

“Huh?”

“Sponsors demand that you put Roy Akizuki in a lead role.”

“Huh? Uh, wait, but I’m the lead…”

“Then drop out. Become an extra. Give him the help he needs.”

Amidine turned to Sou for help.

“This is mandatory, Amidine. If you refuse, we’ll withdraw all financial and technological support and expose all misdeeds the Rising Blue Dragon have ever committed. Everyone will know you’re a mob boss. And you don’t want that, do you?”

Amidine felt like the world was crashing down. He gasped for air.

Sou merely glared at him like a judge who’d just passed a sentence. Amidine knew better than to argue with that look. Heedless of what Amidine was asking for, they both had that look of smug satisfaction people get after scoring a good deal on a household appliance.

“So go on, sort it out! This is such a passionate twist, Sou!”

“Indeed it is! We can capture Lloyd’s bravery on film, edit it, and have all the propaganda we need for the days to come.”

“Man, adult Lloyd sure is a looker. His boy form ain’t bad, but this has a flair all its own. Definitely heroic-looking!”

“Quite heroic, yes.”

But their Lloyd talk fell on deaf ears.

“Argh…it doesn’t matter what I want, huh?” Amidine growled. “I…have to drop out? Become an extra…?”

If he insisted on playing the lead, his career would be forcibly ended. As he gritted his teeth, Amidine felt his knees wobbling.

Meanwhile, grown-up Lloyd—Roy—and the girls were in nearby tents, getting their makeup done and getting fitted for their costumes.

They were being dressed as a passerby, a waitress, a street vendor, and the like.

“Uh, no costume for me?” Riho asked.

“Sorry, dear,” the costumer said. “You were supposed to be a passerby, but we didn’t have any clothes that could hide that arm.”

She glanced down at the bulky lump of mithril covering Riho’s left arm.

“No prob,” Riho said, waving it off.

“You’re sure, Riho?” Lloyd asked. “You won’t be in the movie!”

“Nah, I got bigger fish to fry.” Riho grinned. “I mean, that’s too bad! I really wanted to be in this movie!”

“You’re so obvious,” Selen said, rolling her eyes.

Riho had always been planning on swiping the lead actor’s used chopsticks, so this worked out just fine.

She turned to leave, sticking her tongue out. “Such a shaaaame!” she continued. “I guess I’ll just have to go scope out the vicinity around Amidine…”

Phyllo’s hand clamped down on her shoulder.

“Ow! What the heck, Phyllo?”

“…Anyone not cast is part of the crew. That’s the rule.”

“Crew… You mean, we’re working for free?”

Her chance at a fortune had abruptly turned into a volunteer opportunity. Riho was visibly annoyed.

“It’s not free. They’re paying for our lodgings, after all. And we get to make memories with Sir Lloyd…!” Then Selen smirked and put a hand over her mouth. “But I guess if you’re part of the crew, you can only watch us having fun from the sidelines.”

“…You poor thing.” Phyllo started fake crying.

Riho’s brow twitched. She opened her mouth to snarl something back…but a low, sad voice called out to her.

“Heyyy…over heeeere…”

“Is somebody crying? Ugh!”

Riho had turned to find Allan and a group of very gloomy cadets hauling equipment around.

“Don’t look so peeved, mercenary. You’re like us! Part of the crew.”

Allan managed a feeble laugh, cradling a bounce board—the white thing they use to reflect light during a shoot—like it was a valuable treasure.

“You can’t have a movie…sob…without a crew.”

“We’re part of things! Still!”

“Hic… Where there’s light, there’s shadow. And we…matter, too.”

The rest of the cadets started beckoning to Riho, sinister smiles on their lips. They were all pretty bad actors… The last one hadn’t even worked on his line in advance and had paused for an awfully long time before awkwardly wrapping things up.

“They all thought they’d be in the movie but failed miserably! They were stamped with the ‘disqualified extra’ brand and plunged into darkness,” Selen intoned.

“And…I gotta be one of them?” Riho asked, looking aghast.

Phyllo gave her a comforting pat on the shoulders. “…Don’t let the darkness swallow you,” she advised.

“I won’t! Dammit! This isn’t fair! I gotta work for free and get lumped in with these losers?!”

But Riho’s desperate wail vanished futilely into the skies of Rokujou.

Then someone seeming even more desperate appeared—Amidine—looking like he’d dropped both his wallet and his keys.

Everyone turned to stare, wondering what had happened.

Then Sardin appeared, holding a megaphone in one hand—as movie directors are wont to do.

“Well, now that Amidine’s arrived, let’s all get to know one another! What’s that you say? ‘You’re famous, King Sardin. We need no introduction’? Well, where’s the fun in that?”

He spoke with the enthusiasm of a lonely guy hosting his first and only singles party. Nervous laughter went up all over.

A vein twitched on Amidine’s forehead. He moved closer.

“Wh-what’s wrong Amidine? You look unwell…huh?”

“Uh, so,” Amidine whispered in Sardin’s ear, eyes hollow. “The sponsors want to cast Mr. Akizuki as the lead.”

Sardin’s eyes went wide, rattled. “B-but…,” he protested, low and furious. “We wanted him slipping away from filming to investigate the mob’s activities! Dammit, the Rising Blue Dragon are definitely behind this…”

“No, this is entirely unrelated to them,” Amidine said. “I swear.”

“Er… How are you so sure?”

He was the boss of the Rising Blue Dragon, after all.

Sardin put a hand to his brow, then sighed and snapped back into his Dumb Dandy act.

“Sorry for the delay, everyone! I actually have a surprise casting announcement! Is everyone ready? No, perhaps that’s the wrong tone to strike…”

Recasting the lead role really wasn’t news to deliver like a hype man. You wouldn’t want a baseball coach going, “Woohoo! You just got demoted to the bench!”

Seeing Sardin at a loss, Amidine listlessly explained, “Sorry to spring this on everyone, but I’ve been forced to drop out.”

Everyone gulped.

“B-but—who else can play the lead?!” Lloyd fretted.

Looking like he’d lost his own soul, Amidine patted him on the shoulder.

“You will, Mr. Akizuki.”

““““Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!””””

Lloyd was not the only one astonished by this announcement.

“Wait… What the heck?” Riho said, baffled.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Selen asked, looking very proud. “They spotted Sir Lloyd’s unmissable talent. My very own star!”

“He ain’t yours, and his audition was canceled!” Riho snapped. She gave Amidine a suspicious look…and saw tears running down his face. “Why’s he crying?”

“Moved to tears by the birth of the hero of the new age!”

Really? Riho gave him a long, searching look.

“Goddamn sponsors,” he muttered, shaking with rage.

“He seems to be blaming the sponsors…”

“The sponsors’ eyes must have lit upon Sir Lloyd and seen the aura of greatness shining off him! Poor Amidine couldn’t even compete!”

That wasn’t what she’d said a moment ago, and Riho was about to point this out but decided against it. “Well, showbiz is complicated,” she said, chalking it up to grown-up problems. But the grown-ups causing this were doing so for extremely childish reasons…

“Anyway, Roy! I’m sure we all—all—have opinions on this, but as our new lead actor, can you say a word or two to everyone?”

Rather flustered by all of this, Lloyd looked around at the cast and crew.

“Er, um…I’m as confused as everyone, but I’ll do my best!”

Yeah, in a situation like this, that was definitely the safe thing to say.

Amidine’s cheeks were stained with tears. Lloyd was at a total loss. Sardin’s usual bluster wasn’t really concealing his dismay—and the cast were forced to applaud all three of them. But no one really felt like celebrating, so the applause was not exactly thunderous.

The room had that awkward vibe of a going-away party for a boss who’s been let go.

The other cast members stepped up, introducing themselves—a fierce-looking villain, a hard-boiled veteran cop, and a beautiful village girl.

All were surprised by the sudden recasting, but they each said nice things: “This happens in the biz!” or “Break a leg!”

And as they introduced themselves…

“……” One girl seemed distinctly out of place. She had a parasol raised, hiding her face.

Spying this, Sardin turned everyone’s attention to her.

“And this is our heroine! Mina will be playing a girl who flees the palace! Be nice to her, everyone! …Say hi, Mina.”

With that, Mina closed her parasol and bowed.

“……Um, I’m Mina. Nice to meet you.”

She had blond hair past her shoulders. She wore a blue hat and a lovely dress. Her big round eyes made quite an impression. She didn’t raise her voice and kept her greeting simple.

The crowd was somewhat nonplussed by this.

“Uh, she’s a little nervous!” Sardin explained. “This is her first big role! And obviously, she wants to avoid getting burned by the sun.”

Riho narrowed her eyes. “He’s sure got her back… Oh, is she the one he personally cast?”

She’d heard something about him insisting they cast unknown talent in the role.

“King Sardin plucked her out of obscurity! Now she and Sir Lloyd… Oh, I’m so jealous.” Selen chewed on a fingernail, scowling at Mina furiously, as if she was convinced she should be the one up there on that stage.

Relieved he wasn’t the only one with his first big role, Lloyd came up to Mina, smiling gently.

“I—I guess we’re both beginners, then?” he said. “This won’t be easy, but if we work together, I’m sure we can— Hmm?”

Mina had stepped behind him, standing very close and pulling her hat down low over her eyes. A bead of sweat ran down her cheek.

It was like she was hiding from Lloyd’s friends. He heard her whisper, “Oh, crap.”

Lloyd looked confused.

“…Mm?” Phyllo’s eyes had gone wide, staring fixedly at Mina.

“Oh, already in character, Mina?” Sardin cried.

“…Who does she think she is?” Selen’s eyes were equally wide.

“I’ve been biding my time…but that home-visiting escort has already seduced another victim!”

Micona was doing the exact same thing—except she was here “biding her time” to bump off grown-up Lloyd. She was radiating murder.

“She’s probably just scared because the three of you are glaring at her…although she is standing a bit too close to him.” Riho’s eyes narrowed.

With boundless good cheer, Sardin urged the girls to leave.

“Now the Azami contingent will be filming a scene in the shopping district, so please head on over there! Roy, let me get you the script.”

“Boo…” Selen was visibly displeased, clearly wanting to stay by Lloyd’s side.

“I know you want to watch me work,” Sardin said. “But I’ll catch up with you all at the next location.”

“No, not you, Sardin! Sir Ll—”

Riho stepped in, clapping a hand over Selen’s mouth.

“That’s enough out of you, m’lady. Better secure the girl behind you on the right.”

Selen looked over her right shoulder…and found Micona repeating, “Guilty as charged, guilty-guilty-guilty…” without pausing for breath, like a kabaddi player chanting throughout her game.

“It would never do to have her cause another scene like yesterday, I suppose.”

“Yo, Phyllo, don’t just stand there! Let’s move!”

“……Mm.” Phyllo finally blinked and reluctantly joined them.

Once they were gone, Lloyd heard Mina breathe a sigh of relief.

“Thought my cover was blown for sure,” she muttered.

“Huh?”

“Oh, nothing,” she said, waving him off.

Lloyd looked puzzled, but someone was calling out to him. “Roy Akizuki! We’ve got a scene to film, so change into the lead’s costume and head to that warehouse.”

“Oh, right! Thanks! Uh…Mina?”

She was still in his shadow, but hastily emerged. “Oh…sorry…Roy.”

“Not a problem, Mina. If you’ll excuse me.”

He bowed and ran off back to makeup.

“…Since when did the Azami army have a hunk like that?” she muttered, but this…Lloyd did not hear.

Now then, what happened to Amidine, reduced to being an extra?

As he stood there with the empty eyes of one who’s lost everything, a Rising Blue Dragon member slipped up to him, mingling with the crew.

“Bo—Amidine, what’s going on? Why would you give up the lead role?”

Amidine didn’t even have the energy to scold the man for almost calling him Boss.

“The sponsors insisted,” he explained, smiling slightly. “If I don’t agree, not only will they cut off our weapons supply, they’ll expose us all.”

“S-seriously?”

“Seriously. If it weren’t for him… If only…yes.”

An idea came to Amidine.

“Let’s get rid of Mr. Akizuki. That way I can get the lead role back and crush Sardin’s plans. Gather every underling you can.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Life back in his eyes, Amidine grinned and let out an ominous chuckle.

The warehouse on the outskirts of Rokujou was normally used to store bricks, lumber, and other building supplies, but today, it was filled with actors and equipment.

Lloyd changed into the costume the stylist provided, looking bashful.

Black slacks and jacket over a green shirt and a red necktie—not at all the sort of clothes he was used to wearing, and he felt very uncomfortable in them.

The stylist noticed that at once. “It’s perfect,” she assured. “If your girlfriend sees this, she’ll swoon.”

Lloyd had actually sent five girls into a swan dive the other day, except none of them were his girlfriend.

“O-oh, I don’t have a—” Lloyd turned red. This look on the face of a twentysomething hunk was definitely a surprise, and one that clearly worked for the stylist.

Then a man came up and introduced himself as the screenwriter. He had…very dead eyes.

“So you’re Roy, huh? The one taking over for Amidine?”

“A-are you okay?”

“I’m doing better than the AD…and the PAs looked ready to die from ulcers. Lord knows how many retakes or revisions this’ll require.” He handed Lloyd a copy of the script. “There’s a number of changes to fit the new casting, so take a look.”

“Okay, sure. Thank you.”

Seeing Lloyd’s nervous expression, the screenwriter gave him an encouraging look.

“This is the sponsors’ fault, not yours. And motion pictures don’t have any sound, so nobody’ll notice if your lines are a bit off. Most times we can fix it in the captions. Later!”

He turned and left, and Lloyd let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s good to be more composed,” Mina comforted, but then she twisted the knife. “But it’s harder than it sounds. If you start babbling nonsense, the other actors’ll get rattled, and if that shows on their faces… Just make sure you’re prepared.”

“Uh, good point, Mina.”

“The key is improvising.”

This actually put a little confidence on Lloyd’s face.

“Oh! So that’s why King Sardin and Amidine ran me through that yesterday… Okay, I just have to do it like that! Like they’re really trying to kill me.”

Yeah, that wasn’t acting. He really was trying to kill you.

Just then… Yoink.

“Huh?”

At the mention of their names, Mina grabbed Lloyd, pulling him in close.

“King Sardin? And Amidine? What did you do with them? They tried to kill you?”

Lloyd blinked at her, very surprised by the steely glint in her eyes.

“Er, yes… After the audition…”

“Yo, Mr. Akizuki! How are you feeling? I feel great myself, like a dog out for a walk!”

Before Lloyd could say another word about the day before, Sardin cut in, extra enthusiastic.

“Your Majesty… No, you’re the director now, right? Looking forward to working with you, sir. Sorry, this must be a big mess.”

Lloyd bowed low. Sardin bobbed his head right back.

“I’m the one who’s sorry! Springing all this on you—but you can’t argue with the moneymen. They’re providing all this equipment! I know I’m asking a lot of you, but just act natural, and our top-tier crew will make this a movie to remember! Relax!”

Then he leaned in, whispering in Lloyd’s ear—suddenly very serious.

“Oh, and…mister, I know Mina’s cute, but don’t tell her about yesterday. You never know who’s watching. Make sure to act natural where that’s concerned, too.”

He had no idea Lloyd had mistaken that for an improv—nobody would. He was just taking precautions to make extra sure Lloyd’s lips were sealed.

I can see why he wants me keeping quiet. They can’t tell anyone about secret auditions. But…who could be watching?

Since he assumed everything yesterday had been part of his audition, Lloyd was confused by this ominous turn of phrase.

Sensing this, Sardin leaned even closer. Too close. Lloyd could feel the man’s breath on his cheek.

“What’s this? You don’t think Mina’s cute?”

“Er, no, that isn’t…”

“At any rate, not a word to anyone. No matter how cute Mina is, we can’t get her involved in this.”

Lloyd assumed this was Sardin’s way of saying he couldn’t have his own actress get caught up in a scandal. He was rather at a loss.

“Director, you’ve left him nowhere to go. Maybe cut the kid a break?” Mina suggested.

“Mm! But of course! I was just about to do that!”

With a blissful smile, he shot her a thumbs-up. This…was not part of his Dumb Dandy routine. One hundred percent his natural reaction.

How deep does Mina have her claws in him? wondered the entire crew.

Then the assistant director appeared, looking ready to cry. The sudden recasting had played havoc with the entire shoot schedule…and she was fighting the urge to just run for the hills.

“Who raised you people? The cameras are over there! You need to be on set! You’re the director!”

“Gasp! Right you are! My parents would be ashamed of me!”

“Stop posing, you Dumb Dandy! Just get a move on!”

“Of course, right away! Mister, I trust you completely, but don’t you lay a finger on Mina or—”

Sardin was dragged away across the warehouse floor. So much for regal dignity.

Lloyd was still stuck on the line about not knowing who’s watching.

Oh! He must mean the cameras. They must have cameras hidden everywhere so they can capture behind-the-scenes footage!

This sort of footage was often played during the end credits—along with bloopers and unused scenes.

With this entirely wrong idea in mind, Lloyd braced himself. I can’t let my guard down at all! he thought. This wasn’t a variety show, though, so if they wanted footage from the set, nobody would resort to spy tactics.

Lloyd immediately started acting highly suspicious, and Mina raised an eyebrow at him.

“You tight with the king?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t say that…I mean, you seem much closer to him than I am.”

“Not really. He doesn’t talk about himself much, and the whole Dumb Dandy thing is just an act. I oughtta know.”

“Really? As an actor yourself?”

“And it’s less that we’re close than he’s carrying a one-sided torch for me. I dunno what his deal is or what he’s really thinking…or why he’s teamed up with Amidine. Sorry, I’m getting sidetracked.” Mina broke off, settling down on the step of a nearby ladder. “Either way, the sponsors like you…so your fate is sealed. Try not to embarrass the army of Azami, okay? If this winds up souring relations with Rokujou, Choline will be pissed.”

“Colonel Choline? You know her?”

“Whoops! Yeah, well, she’s from Rokujou, you know! She’s a famous recovery magic expert! Also, uh, you know how to read scripts and everything? I’ll give you a free lesson! Ask your wallet and your legal guardians if you can afford that low, low fee!”

Her entire manner changed. It struck Lloyd as familiar somehow. But he jumped on the offer.

“Please!”

“The key is to not overthink things,” Mina began.

Amidine and his main crew-member henchman were watching from behind a bookcase, like classroom outcasts cursing the popular kids.

What they actually said was even more ominous.

“Ready to send him to the great beyond?”

“Yes, sir. Exactly as ordered. See?” The underling glanced toward a simple steel-pipe scaffolding. There were lights and other heavy objects piled on top.

Sturdy bolts held the whole thing together, but someone was busy loosening those. Another Rising Blue Dragon minion.

With the bolts loosened, it would only take a nudge to send the whole thing crashing down. Amidine flashed a toothy grin. “Heh-heh-heh…well done. The moment he steps beneath it…”

All that heavy gear would come crashing down on Lloyd’s head. A classic murder technique: making it look like an accident.

“But Bo—Amidine, won’t this take Mina out, too?”

The underling seemed far less enthused by this plan.

“Watch what you call me,” Amidine scolded, poking him. “The life of an up-and-coming young actress versus the survival of the Rising Blue Dragon? You don’t have to be a brainiac to answer that question. Don’t miss your chance to rub Roy out.”

“S-sorry.”

Without a second glance at his minion, Amidine chuckled—all trace of his dashing movie star act long since gone.

“Heh-heh-heh… You can’t put a bulletproof vest on your head! Enjoy having your skull caved in.”

This was downright disturbing, and his minion visibly flinched.

Mina waved Lloyd over, and he stepped closer. Amidine’s eyes flashed.

“Now! Do it!”

Catching the signal, the minion near the scaffolding gave the loosened bolt a kick.

Clang! Clatter! The iron scaffolding went flying—

“……Huh?”

“Mina, look out!”

Equipment and scaffolding alike came crashing mercilessly down on their heads.

Shrieks went up from the crew nearby. The sounds of steel rods clanging and heavy objects landing echoed, and a cloud of dust went up…

“Got him!” Behind the shelf, Amidine pumped a fist, certain the collapse had found its mark.

“Yes, definitely.” His minion shuddered. “I saw a steel pipe hit that Roy fellow right in the head…”

“His skull’s caved in! His neck’s fractured! No way he survived that,” Amidine cried jubilantly, watching for the dust cloud to settle.

He was like a young boy pulling on a gacha game, waiting for the rainbow sparkles to dissipate, not daring to blink.

When the dust cleared, Amidine saw…

“Are you okay, Mina?”

Lloyd was completely uninjured. Mina was cradled in his arms like he was carrying a princess.

“You’re kidding! You said you saw a pipe bounce right off his head!”

“I—I know I did! It hit him so hard, it flattened the pipe!”

“Then how is he not dead?!”

Amidine and his minion weren’t getting anywhere hiding behind that bookshelf.

Oblivious to their consternation, Lloyd aimed his gentle smile at Mina—with his much more handsome grown-up face.

“That was a surprise, huh? All that equipment falling like that.”

The blow would have killed any mere mortal, so Mina was gaping up at him in surprise.

“Er, huh? How are you okay?”

Mina was well aware this was a stupid question, but she couldn’t not ask.

“Well, I am a soldier!” he explained. “They train us pretty well. Something like this is no big deal.”

No amount of training would allow anyone to survive that kind of blunt force trauma. But for someone from Kunlun, it really wasn’t a big deal. The iron pipe bent to the shape of Lloyd’s head proved that.

Mina stared up at Lloyd’s smile for a bit, then realized she was stuck in his arms and turned bright red.

“W-w-whoa!” she cried, thrashing about.

Lloyd gently put her down. “Oh, sorry, was that weird?”

“Not exactly! It just…caught me by surprise! It’s not every day you get snatched up in someone’s arms! If I was a balloon, I’d have popped!”

Something about her flustered actions tugged at the back of Lloyd’s mind like déjà vu. “Hmm,” he said, cocking his head. “Sorry, uh…I feel like I’ve heard someone talk like you before…”

This made Mina even more flustered.

“Whoops, uh… More importantly, why did this thing collapse on…Mm?”

Her eyes locked on to something in the distance. There was a glint in them so powerful, Lloyd thought she was mad at him.

“Wh-what’s wrong? Did I mess something up?”

“Mm? No, sorry, sorry, nothing. Huh…I feel like I’ve heard that before…”

Now it was Lloyd’s turn to adopt a suspicious look. Mina quickly dismissed the idea, shaking it off.

By this point, the crew was running over, yelping at the pile of scaffolding and the fallen ladder.

“A-are you two okay? What happened?” someone called.

“We’re fine!” Mina assured, smiling. “No injuries, thankfully.”

The crew looked relieved. “Well, good…but why did the scaffolding collapse? Were the bolts left loose?”

“…Maybe,” Mina muttered, glaring at the shadows behind the bookcase as the crew started the cleanup effort.

Behind the bookcase, the Rising Blue Dragon minion caught Mina’s look.

“Bo…I mean, Amidine. I think that woman might be on to us. Might be better to lie low for a while.”

Amidine was in no mood to pay his minion any heed. He was too preoccupied with Lloyd’s ability to withstand damage.

“Who cares if some silly girl saw us?! Does that man have a steel cap under his scalp?!”

Even if he did, the impact of that blow would still crush one’s spine.

Amidine was clearly in no state to realize the obvious. His minion shot him a look of pity.

“That wouldn’t help, really…but that girl got herself cast in this film and has been sniffing around us. Weren’t we on our guard around her? Mina must not her real name, either. Should we take care of her?”

“If we can’t hurt him from the outside…we’ll have to try inside.”

“Er…what are we talking about? Amidine?”

Amidine quit muttering and wheeled around to face his minion.

“The first scene they’re filming is the hero and heroine talking in a café, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Then we poison him! Slip some poison in the coffee they’re using. We have a powerful one back at the office, right? Go get it!”

“W-we do, but…using poison in a crowd like this? If it gets traced back to us…”

Before his minion could finish, Amidine grabbed a fistful of his shirt, snarling, “I said go get it now! Did you not hear me?”

Sweating profusely, the henchman nodded vigorously and then sprinted off toward the office. Amidine had maintained the dashing good-guy act for a long time, but now his eyes were hollow and empty, his shoulders shaking with a malevolent cackle.

“You steal my part…I’ll kill you with the cameras rolling. I’ll preserve your death for eternity!”

With his makeup perfect, Lloyd entered the café set for his first scene.

The camera and lights were all in position, and the air was buzzing with energy.

The camera looked like a bazooka with two mouse ears attached. Lloyd faced it, bracing himself.

“Relax,” Mina urged. “It’s not actually a bazooka. I know, it does sort of feel like facing a firing squad…”

“Uh, okay!” Lloyd exclaimed, turning back to her.

Mina chuckled. “You’re funny,” she said. “You look all grown up, but sometimes you react like a kid.”

“Oh, uh…sorry?”

Mina looked almost as sheepish as he did. They took their seats before the camera lens.

“You’ve got your script? This is where the lead and heroine get to know each other. The heroine goes to the restroom and doesn’t come back, and the lead fears she’s been kidnapped and goes after her.”

“Uh, right. I-I’ll do my best!”

“Don’t sweat it. You can fudge the lines a bit; I’ll keep up.”

“I-I’ll do my best,” Lloyd said again, sounding like a broken record.

“Oh? Oh?” Mina teased. “Not good at talking to cute girls, are you?”

“Huh? I would have said you’re more beautiful than cute…”

Mina’s eyes went wide, and she turned bright red. Ah, romance.

“Er, uh, sorry.” Lloyd sure was apologizing a lot.

“Geez.” Mina scolded him to cover her own embarrassment. “Keep it together. We’ve got a big action scene after this, and the producer will be there. Can’t have you looking nervous there. I won’t be in that scene, so good luck.”

“Uh, right…the producer?”

Nobody had mentioned this role yet.

“They keep the movie moving. Every motion picture has one. If the director is like the father, the producer is the mother of the film.”

Lloyd nodded as if it all made sense. “Okay, I get that! That would make you the older sister, then? A very reliable one, at that.”

“I…suppose. Yeah, you can count on me as an older sister.” There seemed to be some veiled meaning behind this. Mina leaned across the table. “You wouldn’t have a little brother, would you? One of the cadets?”

“Nope. No brother.”

“Yeah, your names are different… Anyway, you sure reacted quick. Almost like Phyllo…and you’re really well-built.”

This made Mina remember the feel of his arms around her. She blushed again.

“Something wrong?”

“N-nothing! W-we’re filming soon, right? When do we start?”

Mina noticed the crew grinning at them and fanned her face, hoping the red would go away.

“Wish we’d had the camera rolling!” Sardin cried. “Mr. Akizuki, if we tell the tabloids how fast you went after your costar, I bet they’d pay top dollar! Ha-ha-ha!”

The crew took this as a joke and laughed, but Sardin’s eyes showed no signs of mirth.

“Quit joking around and let’s film this thing!” the assistant director hissed. “We’re on a tight schedule, remember?”

“True, but Amidine isn’t here yet.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he said he wanted to be in this scene.”

“I’m here now.” Amidine swept in, dressed in an apron—playing the café owner.

“You’re late! What kept you?”

“Had trouble getting the pois—ahem—the right apron.”

Amidine gestured proudly at his apron, which featured adorable kitties. Everyone was shocked into silence. This was an awfully cute look for him… He’d actually been waiting for the poison to arrive.

Paying no heed to the horrified looks, he tugged the kitty-cat apron strings tight and clapped his hands.

“Let’s start filming! I’ll serve a cup of coffee to Mr. Akizuki, and he’ll take a sip before saying his lines! Drink it up! Go on, drink away!”

“Uh…I guess you’re in character, huh? Always a professional. Full bore even for a bit part.”

Sardin grabbed his megaphone and started barking instructions.

“Let’s do this! Roll camera! Scene fifteen! Action!”

At his order, a hum filled the room. The camera sprang to life. Mina began to speak, looking relaxed.

Lloyd’s performance was slightly stilted, but well within the confines of the scene. As they went through their lines, Amidine arrived with their coffee.

“Your coffee. And the check.”

“Thank you.”

Amidine went back to the kitchen, watching Lloyd’s lips like a hawk as the coffee was lifted toward them.

“Go on! Die! May your stomach melt!” he hissed.

The coffee touched Lloyd’s lips…and he downed the cup.

“Now die! Go on…die…any minute now…”

The scene wrapped up.

“And cut! Good work, Roy! A fine performance for your first outing.”

“Stop right there!” Amidine came storming out of the kitchen.

“What’s wrong, Amidine? Was his performance unsatisfactory?”

“It was fine!”

“Er, it was?”

Then why had he come flying out of the kitchen?

“Mr. Akizuki!”

“Y-yes?”

“Did you…drink the coffee? Well? Say something!”

“Er… Yeah. It was a little on the sour side, but still good?”

“That’s it?!”

Everyone was staring at him. And not in the way you’d look at a movie star. It was more like the look you’d direct at a crazy old man.

“Amidine, you’re a bit too into this role. We’re done filming, so no need to play the part of the coffee fanatic café owner any longer. Time to break character, mm?”

“Sour?! Just…sour?!” Amidine fell to his knees, weeping.

As he did, Mina’s eyes caught a glimpse of something.

A plain-looking pendant.

“Is that the Saint’s Pendant? Why does he have it?” Mina hissed under her breath, scowling at him. “I’ll have to snatch it away from him… I’ve got to get my hands on it!”

“What the hell happened out there?! Didn’t you bring me the shit I asked for?!” Amidine shrieked in a corner of the empty kitchen, holding a member of his organization up by the collar.

From a distance, he looked like a café owner scolding a part-timer…except he was making full use of his mafia-taught ways. Whatever happened to hiding his identity?

“I did! I promise!” squeaked the minion. Amidine eyed him dubiously. His kitty-cat apron was making this scene almost comical.

“Then why is he still alive? …That wasn’t what you said it would do! Don’t tell me you brought me cold medicine—or worse, powdered sugar!”

In a huff, Amidine scraped the bottom of Lloyd’s cup with his fingernail and brought it to his lips.

“It’s sweet. Don’t tell me you actually gave me— Gweh-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah!”

“Ah, Amidine! No! Spit it out! There you go! And rinse out your mouth with some water! Say ‘aaah’!”

His subordinate sounded like he was scolding a child who’d eaten something he wasn’t supposed to. He handed Amidine a glass of water.

“Yow! My tongue! Ow! …Glug-glug. Bleh. Glug-glug. Bleh. Glug-glug…”

Pain finally subsided, Amidine slumped over in exhaustion. “Sorry for ever doubting you… You did bring me poison… I’m just a failure…”

He was so down in the dumps, he’d forgotten his place as a mobster.

“B-Boss… I think we might be dealing with a force to be reckoned with…”

Amidine didn’t even have it in him to warn his minion about calling him that.

“So we can’t off him easy, huh…? Bring it on, son… You know what to fetch me.”

“Are you talking about…?”

“Yeah, the Gatling gun.”

“Wha?!” The minion held his breath for a moment. “The Gatling gun… A round of its shots can make anyone into mincemeat! We can’t! It’s incredibly dangerous and not on the market yet—though I have no doubt it’ll dominate sales in the weapons trade—and we certainly can’t just show it to some civilian—!”

“Can it.” Amidine’s fist landed a blow on the minion’s head. “Who cares? We can’t have this beast roaming our streets… Let’s give the newspapers something to write about. Go. Get it for me. Stat.”

The minion scrambled off, head down.

A smile stretched across Amidine’s lips.

“I’ll rub you out this time…using our newest weapon.”

Having failed to kill Lloyd once again, Amidine turned his mind to the next scene, concocting yet another scheme.

This scene was to take place in the city. Roy would be in pursuit of a large thug, who hurled passersby and stall products at him, impeding his progress. A classic foot chase.

Selen would be playing a village girl, and Phyllo, a stall vendor. They were in costume and ready.

“Hi, guys. What parts are you playing?” Lloyd asked.

“Oh, Sir Lloy—I mean, Roy! I’m supposed to be chatting at a café. Well, I won’t actually be saying anything. Just pretending I’m having a conversation.”

Meanwhile, Phyllo was wearing a greengrocer’s outfit, grimly clutching an apple.

“…My stall gets knocked over, and I’m buried in produce.”

Riho slapped them both on the backs, grinning. “Perfect roles for each of you! Phyllo’s tough enough to take the fall, and from a distance, Selen looks normal! Flawless casting!”

Lloyd noticed Riho was in her usual clothing.

“What are you playing, Riho? You’re not in costume?”

Her grin faded. “I’m helping the gaffer with the lights. It’s a real pain,” she grumbled.

She held up a silver board. It had a dull sheen to it.

“…What’s that for?”

“It’s called a bounce board.” Riho sighed. “Reflects the sunlight, reduces the shadows… All part of the cinematography.”

“Buck up, Riho!” Lloyd said. “Lighting is an important part of any movie! Thanks to you, I’ll really get to shine!”

This brought a flush to her cheeks. “W-well, if you say so…I’ll do what I can.”

It was a lovely moment…soon interrupted by a heated shout.

“Well put, Roy! Your shadow is where we reside!”

Allan and the rest of the audition failures and lousy actors arrived in good spirits.

“’Sup, Roy! Allan Toin Lidocaine, captain of the bounce board brigade!”

“Allan! Wait, captain?” Lloyd asked.

Allan was now boasting of a newly minted title, but a moment before, he’d been depressed like an idol fan whose favorite was forced to retire after a shotgun wedding. How had he recovered so completely?

“Man, you sure have done a one-eighty, Allan.”

“Ha! Of course I have. Amidine spoke to me in person! Said he was counting on us! We wouldn’t be the Azami army if we couldn’t live up to that!”

Amidine was almost certainly just being polite, but that had gone right to Allan’s head. Only a true fanboy could get that excited just because a celebrity spoke to him.

“The depth of his courtesy! He saw we had gaffer potential! I’ll become the greatest bounce board holder in Rokujou history!”

The only thing in the depths of Amidine’s mind was making mincemeat of “Mr. Akizuki,” but Lloyd nodded like this all made sense. Allan clapped him on the shoulder.

“Give it all you got! I once dreamed of being a famous actor—now I entrust that dream to you.”

A stupid dream and a stupid request. There was nothing worse than an excitable fanboy.

“Th-thanks…but you gave me such good advice. Are you sure you don’t have any regrets?”

Lloyd was taking this dumb conversation very seriously even though the right response would be to pick his nose and ignore it.

“…Don’t even humor him… His nerves are frayed,” Phyllo advised.

She pulled Lloyd away from Allan. It was really nice of her not to remind everyone how bad Allan’s acting had been.

Then Lloyd noticed someone missing. “Uh…where’s Micona?”

“Micona’s playing a waitress. The guy running bumps into her and she drops a tray full of drinks. Over there, see?”

Riho pointed across the square, where Micona was standing in a cute waitress uniform…and scowling in their direction.

“Uh…she’s glaring at me.”

Lloyd was blissfully oblivious to the fact that Micona thought he was a home-visiting escort toying with Marie’s affections, but even he had noticed she had it in for him.

“I don’t think she’ll do anything crazy with the cameras running, so…just focus on your performance, Ll—Roy.”

Lloyd took another look at Micona, shuddered, and moved to his position.

“All right, extras from Azami, thanks for waiting! It’s time for the next scene, and King Sardin’s entrance!”

Sardin struck a pose. No one was sure how to react.

“Yo! King Sardin! You’re the same as ever!”

“King Sardin, stop by our shop sometime!”

“Our kids are all grown up now, King Sardin!”

“King Sardin!”

He seemed quite popular with the citizens of Rokujou. They all called out to him like they would a friendly neighbor.

“Someone’s popular.”

“I hear everyone calls him the Dumb Dandy,” Selen said. “A king who doesn’t get mad, even when you don’t give him the royal treatment, would be fairly popular.”

Phyllo leaned in. “……Where’s the heroine?”

Riho took out the script and looked it over.

“Uh, this scene takes place after the princess is safe, and they’re trying to catch the bad guy. So the heroine isn’t here. Why? Did you want her autograph?”

“…Mm.”

It was unclear if that was a yes or a no.

“You’re being extra weird.” Riho put the script away and sat down, yawning.

Allan started yelling at her, all fired up for some reason:

“What are you doing, mercenary?! You’re in the bounce board brigade! Get to your position!”

“I’m not part of your dumb brigade, nitwit! Ow! Don’t shine that thing in my eyes!”

“Get to your place!” Allan yelled, desperate to share his newfound love of cinematography. “V-Formation! Stand by!”

“““Yes! Lights!”””

“V-Formation? What are we, geese? Argh, stop making this an ordeal!”

Frankly, having an array of bounce boards aimed at you in broad daylight might well set you on fire.

With his forces arranged for maximum destruction, Allan proudly reported to Sardin. “Director! Bounce boards in position!”

“Uh, sure, thanks? Just keep it down.”

Allan’s enthusiasm was so bad, even Sardin forgot to be the Dumb Dandy.

At this juncture, Amidine sidled up with a wicked grin.

“Sardin, a word?”

“Oh, what now, Amidine?” Sardin snapped back into character. “You want a dozen autographs from the man soon to be the world’s greatest director?”

“No, it’s about the other thing,” Amidine said grimly. “It’s a problem for us if Mr. Akizuki can’t investigate the Rising Blue Dragon.”

“Certainly… How did it come to this?” Sardin shook his head.

“So,” Amidine continued with a grin like an unscrupulous merchant. “What about having him injured by the villain’s secret weapon, which would get him temporarily out of commission?”

“Hmm, benching him, huh…? The recasting alone has prompted a number of revisions. If we have Roy enact a last-minute miraculous recovery—and have him investigate while his character is sidelined—the sponsors’ demands would be met, and so would ours!”

Sardin looked thoroughly pleased with this idea.

“We got Sardin’s stamp of approval!” Amidine yelped. He was really falling apart here. “Okay, crew! On standby!”

He swung around, barking orders at the crew—specifically, the Rising Blue Dragon underling, who wheeled out a cloth-covered object…a Gatling gun.

“My word, that is ominous!” Sardin cried. “It looks so real… Is it safe?”

“Come now, there’s little difference between a prop and the real thing!”

Amidine wasn’t even making excuses at this point, and Sardin looked genuinely rattled, but Amidine only had eyes for Lloyd. His sinister grin ratcheted up another notch.

“Roy, in this next scene, you’ll be taken down by the enemy’s secret weapon and sidelined—temporarily.”

This news took Lloyd by surprise.

“You’re sure? What kind of weapon?”

“Yeah, it’ll all make sense in the end. As for the weapon… Well, that’s a surprise!”

Amidine flashed a nasty grin and left. Riho and Selen tried to comfort Lloyd.

“The sudden change of leads caused a lot of problems. Nobody wants to piss off the sponsors.”

“Hang in there, Sir Lloy—Roy!”

Despite his grown-up body, Lloyd did his usual adorable fist pump.

“I see! Well, sudden changes or not, I’ve just gotta do my best!”

Both girls’ heartstrings fluttered. As they clutched their chests, reeling, Phyllo swept in like the wind, catching them.

“…Mm.”

“Th-thanks, Phyllo. But why did they both suddenly swoon?” Lloyd asked.

Because a man who is both handsome and doesn’t know it is a killer combo.

Holding the girls upright, Phyllo shot Lloyd her customary blank stare and asked, “…The heroine… What’s she like?”

“Huh? Mina? She’s very classy and refined. Why do you ask?”

“…Well—”

Before Phyllo could answer, a crew member yelled out, “Places, everyone!”

“Oh, sorry, Phyllo.” Lloyd dashed off to his mark.

“……It can’t be her,” Phyllo whispered and went to her own.

“That home-hopping escort! Marie was bad enough, but he’s toying with girl after girl! He must be punished!”

In her frilly waitress uniform, Micona was seething with rage, all directed at Lloyd—or at Roy Akizuki anyway.

“All right! Sardin’s own personal action movie—for Rokujou! Start!”

“Okay, scene thirty-three! Five, four, three…”

The chase scene began.

“Arghhhhhh!”

Bellowing, the large actor playing the villain ran off with Lloyd in pursuit. He knocked over a greengrocer’s stand with Phyllo inside, trying to slow Lloyd down.

Lloyd dodged it easily. Just as the villain seemed cornered, he reached the secret weapon just added to the script.

“I knew this would happen! That’s why my minions prepared this!”

“…A secret weapon here doesn’t actually make sense, Amidine. Oh well…,” Sardin muttered.

The middle of a city street sure was a strange place to stash a weapon, but the extras playing minions yanked the cloth off the Gatling gun. Unaware of recent advances in weapons technology, the people around just thought it was some sort of cannon with lots of narrow tubes.

As the weapon turned its sights on Lloyd, Amidine grinned, heedless of any eyes on him.

“…Prepare to meet your end, mister!”

The actor playing the villain did as he’d been told and pulled the trigger. A spray of bullets fired, spent shells flying.

“Yiiiikes! What is this thing?”

The roar of the gun and the vibrations surprised the actor so much, he slipped out of character.

The crowd around forgot they were filming, clapping their hands over their ears.

“What the— That thing’s firing real ammo!” Riho growled—but the roar of the gun drowned her out.

When that hail of bullets struck Lloyd…

“Ooh, gotcha, gotcha… Gosh, these are really hot.”

He wasn’t sure what to make of it, so he just caught all of them.

All several hundred.

He was left with fistfuls of bullets, unsure what to do.

“Uh… Now what? A machine that lightly tosses bits of iron can’t possibly be the secret weapon, can it?”

To Lloyd’s mind, nobody could possibly die of a few gentle taps from these lumps of metal—of course, they would, normally, and the taps were anything but gentle.

“““Huh…?”””

As Sardin, Amidine, and everyone else watching gaped at Lloyd’s performance, a figure burst out of the shadows, hurtling toward him.

“DIEEEEEEEEEE!”

A waitress in a frilly uniform, a tray balanced on one hand—Micona, face twisted into a demonic scowl.

Lloyd tossed the bullets away, blocking her blow.

“Micona?”

“Nice block, home-invading escort! You may be scum, but you’re not an Azami soldier for nothing!”

She spun the tray on one finger, then threw it at him with the full power of her buff spell, Godspeed. Lloyd dodged the blow easily—and realization dawned, incorrectly obviously.

“Oh! So you’re the secret weapon, Micona! That makes more sense!”

“How dare you speak my name, privacy-invading escort?!” Micona whipped out restaurant silverware—a knife and a fork—and unleashed a flurry of blows like she was dual-wielding swords.

Stab, deflect, stab, stab. She was moving too fast for the eye to see, aiming for the veins on Lloyd’s throat and thighs, totally going for the kill. Naturally, Lloyd wasn’t even scratched.

The action was so incredible, the crowd could only stand and watch.

Even Amidine was left gaping at it, snot running down his face.

“How…did the Gatling gun do nothing? And now another Azami soldier’s trying to kill him? If I wanna kill him, I’ve gotta find somebody this strong? Is he trying to get on my nerves?”

To Amidine, this was a battle between two warriors on the same side—a demonstration of skill designed to intimidate opponents into submission.

“Dammit… Fine, I’ll send in my trump card—Ubi the assassin!”

Amidine failed to wipe his nose but decided to take the challenge offered.

Meanwhile, Lloyd thought this was all part of the script and decided it was probably time he lost the fight.

“Uh-oh!” he exclaimed, staggering somewhat unconvincingly. With a truly unhinged smile, Micona thrust her fork into him.

“You’ve visited your last home, escort!”

“Not on my watch!”

In his moment of peril, he was inexplicably saved by a random village girl—Selen. Using her cursed belt, she made a flamboyant entrance—and the ensuing action was so spectacular, a gasp of admiration went up from the crowd.

“Selen Hemein? Why?”

“A foolish question, Micona!” Selen grinned.

“Isn’t anyone gonna stop this?” Riho asked.

She received no reply. People were too busy watching the action, gawking at the unscripted ad-libs, or assuming that Sardin had ordered all of this. Sardin’s mind had completely shut down. Even Amidine was just standing there, watching, snot dangling from his nose. No one was in control.

“Quit slacking, Riho! The bounce board brigade is unfazed by anything!”

“We should be fazed by this!”

Allan was all fired up by his gaffer duties, keeping his bounce board raised high… He was dumb like that.

Micona and Selen fought on, oblivious to their surroundings. Ignoring Lloyd’s consternation, they grinned at each other.

“I do admire your dedication, Selen Hemein.”

“I feel closer to you knowing you’re a bathroom peeper, Micona.”

A tender moment between two stalkers, but they needed to remember that the cameras were still rolling.

“Then why,” Micona roared, a vein throbbing on her forehead, “do you protect this malevolent escort?! What happened to your love for Lloyd Belladonna?”

“Isn’t it obvious? This man…is Sir Lloyd!” Selen grabbed Lloyd by the face, hauling him in front of Micona.

Micona frowned, peering into his eyes. She reached out and tugged his eyebrow.

“Are you really Lloyd Belladonna?”

“Uh, yes,” he squeaked out, unsure what else to do. “I’m just…bigger now.”

There was a long silence.

Then the murderous aura around Micona somehow got even worse.

“Prepare to die!!”

With that unsettling shriek, Micona set her frilly skirt fluttering as she launched herself at him, exposing a bit too much to the camera lens, which was still rolling, mind you!

So the escort toying with Marie’s heart was the man Micona hated most!

She was now twice as angry! Two flames of fury were merging into one very infuriated inferno!

“Vritra! Micona’s inexplicably angry! Stop her!”

“Inexplicably? You didn’t step on a land mine, Mistress; you dug it up and hit her with it!”

“Vritra,” Selen growled.

“Roger! At once!”

Vritra was the guardian beast of Kunlun, currently possessing Selen’s belt. He quickly moved to restrain Micona.

Micona, however, was in a nigh-trancelike state, hurling everything she had at Lloyd.

“Now I just have to kill one, not two! I can’t believe you would make yourself bigger, just because you know you can’t satisfy Marie with your little body!”

Heedless of the public eye, Micona shouted unsubstantiated innuendo, tears streaming from her eyes…

Slither…crack, crack, crack… Tree roots shot out, an insectoid shell wrapping around her.

“Crap!” Riho yelled. “Micona! You’re starting to unleash the demon lords’ power with everyone watching!”

“Huh? Demon lords? Why demon lords?!” Sardin asked.

The crowd was totally lost at this point. “Is this some sort of special effect?” someone asked.

Micona was way past caring. Cackling wildly, she freed herself from the belt, lunging at Lloyd…

“You will die here on foreign soil, Lloyd Belladonna! And I will comfort Marie— Aughhhh!”

Allan had aimed his bounce board right in her eyes, saving his master.

“I never would have guessed Roy was Lloyd! Bounce board brigade! Circle around! Time to rescue Lloyd!”

“““Yes! Lights!”””

The whole team started aiming light at Micona’s eyes. Note to all good kids and bad ones: Don’t try this one at home.

“My eyes… My eyes!”

“Now! Restrain her before she rampages further!”

Well aware of how dangerous Micona could be, the soldiers from Azami piled on top of her.

“Vritra, bind her tight! This is my chance to grab grown-up Sir Lloyd and his grown-up bits… Oooww!”

“…Mm.”

Selen attempted to touch him a little in the confusion, but Phyllo threw a bounce board at her. This, obviously, was another move that neither good kids nor bad ones should attempt.

“My eyes! …My eyes…,” Selen shrieked.

“Sorry, Mistress…I was too busy binding her to save you…”

With Vritra wrapped around Micona, Selen’s face had been wide open, and the corner of the bounce board dug into her skin. Selen and Micona were both left clutching their eyes.

“Nice!” Riho cried. “Guys! Restrain the shames of Azami!”

All the extras rushed in, grabbing the two idiots.

“Uh… What should I be doing?” Lloyd asked, totally left out.

“You make a run for it! Get far away from here!” Riho shouted. “Until this all dies down! Go! Get!”

“Oh, so that’s what they meant by ‘sidelines’! Got it! I’ll run away! Like a scared rabbit!”

Lloyd spun around and vanished into the distance.

“She said to go far away…but how far?”

He’d gone all the way to the edge of the city.

Maybe taking Riho’s instructions a bit too literally, Lloyd was now wandering Rokujou’s back alleys. This area was like the East Side of Azami—not well maintained and filled with the unsavory.

“Uh, that’s a dead end…I’ll have to take the roofs.”

Lloyd hopped lightly onto the roof above, like a ninja.

“Now, then…mm?” His ears picked up a commotion down below: running footsteps and guttural voices.

“Don’t let her get away!”

“She went down there!”

“What’s that? Are they filming here, too?”

Just below the roof Lloyd was standing on, a girl turned the corner with several dangerous-looking men on her heels.

Lloyd recognized her, and his eyes widened in surprise.

That’s…Mina!

People were chasing his beautiful but mysterious costar! She leaned against a wall, sweating and swearing under her breath.

“Argh… Can’t run in these shoes…”

“We’ve got her! You stole something from Amidine, right? We’ll beat an answer out of ya if we hafta! Come at me, bro!”

“Hahh…hahh… Man, film crews these days are rough, huh? No way you guys are upright citizens.” She looked exhausted, but her tone made it clear she wasn’t defeated yet.

“An upright citizen? …Come at me, bro!” one man said, looming over her.

“Is that all you can say? Or are you shouting to disguise your insecurities? Or your guilty conscience? I have neither, so I can’t relate.”

“I’m not… Dammit!”

“It’s cute that you took that seriously.” She grinned…and started casting water magic. “Take that!”

A spear of water hurtled toward the men. But…

“No such luck, lady!”

One of the men snatched a magic stone out of his pocket and absorbed the water spear with it.

“…Tch, who’d think a film crew was carrying anti-magic weapons around with ’em?”

Seeing Mina’s frown, the man grinned triumphantly.

“Film crews gotta be ready for anything these days.”

“Oh, please. You’re using the film profits to fund weapon development and smuggling… For the Rising Blue Dragon.”

“…Was gonna let you off the hook if you gave the pendant back, but I guess that’s no longer an option.”

The men had her surrounded.

Lloyd was watching all this from the roof.

They’re filming, right? I guess this is the subplot? Where’s the camera? This wasn’t in the script.

He was lost in his usual misunderstandings. He looked around, trying to find the cameras.

They’d be mad if I jumped in blindly and ruined the shot… From this angle, I imagine the camera might be over there?

The crowd of ruffians spotted him.

“Hey! Who’s up there?”

“Ah! They saw me! Argh…”

He hopped down off the roof, hanging his head. This was over a dozen-yard drop, and it kinda freaked the Rising Blue Dragons out.

“Wh-what’s your deal?!”

“S-sorry, I’m just a little lost.”

“Nobody climbs on a roof when they’re lost! You think you can lie to us? Wait, you’re…”

A wave of surprise ran through the ruffians. This was the man Amidine had been trying to kill all morning—the assassin from Azami, Mr. Akizuki.

“Amidine still hasn’t killed you? Even with the Gatling gun?”

“Amidine? I knew it!” Mina said.

One of the men winced.

As if he’d heard none of this, Lloyd just bowed low. “Sorry! I know you’re filming!”

This just confused everyone.

“Don’t play dumb! We know who you are! Sorry ain’t cutting it!”

“Huh?”

“You ain’t talking your way out of this one! Think about it!”

Lloyd thought about it. Um, this is clearly not a real-life situation. And Mina’s here…so is this an improv exercise?

It clearly wasn’t.

Oh! Mina’s in the middle of an extended ad-lib! And when I showed up, they just made me a part of it! It’s obvious! They got mad when I said sorry because that wasn’t how they want the scene to go! I’ve gotta follow Allan’s improv rules!

Those really don’t apply here. No one should believe everything Allan said anyway.

Now convinced they were doing an improv exercise as an acting warm-up, Lloyd resolved to do his best not to disrupt the flow of the scene.

Mina, meanwhile, was trying to get him to escape.

“Roy! Run for it, they’re…”

“Shut up, toots!” a man roared, brandishing a knife.

Lloyd caught his arm—moving too fast for the eye to see.

“Ah! What’re you— Augh!”

The man’s arm twisted. The sheer force of Lloyd’s grip caused the knife to slip out of the man’s hand. It clattered on the pavement below.

“Think about it, huh?” Lloyd said, his voice suddenly a low growl.

The men and Mina were equally surprised by this sudden transformation.

“Wh-who are you?!”

“I thought about it, and I decided I’d rather save the girl. Seems like the right thing to do here.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Mina yelped. “Run for it! If they target you—”

Lloyd just flashed her an impish grin. “Don’t worry,” he said, playing his role to the hilt. “They’ll play along and willingly lose to me.”

“Like hell we will!”

Assuming he was winding them up, they pulled out weapons and charged.

Thnk! The man’s blackjack struck Lloyd right in the cheek.

Weapon digging into his face, Lloyd muttered, “I’m impressed again! Professional actors really know how to pull their punches!”

“What are you— Augh!”

“Right.” Lloyd lightly twisted the blackjack like he was turning a doorknob.

The man holding it spun through the air, landing headfirst on the pavement…and didn’t move again.

“Huh?”

“Wow, I barely moved at all, but he did that huge pratfall! Headfirst, too! Professionals are on another level.”

Lloyd’s idea of “barely moved” was strong enough to heft a boulder. It would send anyone flying.

“D-drop dead!”

This time they pulled a gun. Several shots rang out in the alley.

Holes opened in Lloyd’s forehead, chest, and stomach. Mina shrieked.

“Eek! Y-you’ve been—”

But Lloyd stayed upright. Naturally! These peashooters did no more damage to Lloyd than the corner of a desk would do the average butt.

“I’ve been thinking these are really impressive props! They look so real but don’t hurt at all! Oops, sorry, I’m slipping out of character.”

“Y-you’re a monster!”

“I’ll leave that to your imagination—not that you’ll have time for it!”

With that cool one-liner, Lloyd went for a leg sweep, which was so fast it caused a shock wave.

One, two, three men were sent flying into the alley wall.

“Only you left, huh? Well? Ready to run?”

Instead, the man pulled out a large tube, pointing it at Lloyd.

“You’re too much! But our brand-new magic stone cannon will finish you! You’ll be crying for mercy!”

“Oh? Fascinating. Go on and try it.” Lloyd held up a hand, waving him on.

“Y-y-y…you asked for it! I’ll blow you and the dame away!”

A thunderous boom echoed through the alley. Once again, Lloyd was completely uninjured. He’d soaked up the blast with his palm…and was now lightly brushing the soot off.

“—!” The man let out a voiceless shriek.

“Er, really? No damage at all? How?” Mina asked.

“How? I dunno, I just work out,” Lloyd explained. That seems like something they’d say in movies, he thought.

Then he took a swing at the last of the ruffians. He was sent helplessly ragdolling away and slumped unconscious against the far wall.

“Wow,” Lloyd breathed out. “A light little tap and his eyes rolled back in his head! He’s a real pro.”

“R-Roy?” Mina asked. “Who are you? They said something about knowing who you are?”

He was not prepared for that at all.

“Er, um…,” he stammered, at a loss.

“You can’t tell me, huh? Fair enough. But you’d better wash your hands of this mess, fast. You won’t last long in Rokujou with the Rising Blue Dragon on your heels.”

“Oh! We’re still using that story line.”

“Story line?”

“Er, I mean…huh?”

There was a commotion from down the alley. Were they cops running toward the fight? Or backup for the ruffians?

“Crap, it’s the cops—they’ve got the police in their pocket. They won’t help us.”

“Oh, one of those stories. Then if you’ll excuse me…”

“Huh? Eaugh! Wait, not so fast! I’m not ready!”

Sweeping Mina into his arms, Lloyd beat a hasty retreat, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

As the sun set, they arrived at a park by the coast, and Lloyd gently set her down. It was getting quite dark.

Mina’s eyes were frozen all the way open, staring at him.

“You’re not the first person I’ve met with skills like that. Phyllo, and… You’re sure you don’t have a brother?”

“Something the matter?”

“…No, just talking to myself.”

“Okay…well, I’d better get back. I dunno where I was supposed to wait…”

Lloyd vanished like the wind.

“Roy Akizuki… Roy… He was so…warm.”

Mina spoke his name like she was shielding the embers in her heart from the sea breeze. Then she remembered the pendant she’d hidden at her chest and held it up to the moonlight.

“I can’t get distracted. Not until I’ve used this pendant to save my mother. I don’t have much time. Every moment counts.”

Lloyd was headed back the way he’d come, returning to the shoot.

“Was that enough time? Maybe too much? I’d better get back.”

Lloyd reached the shopping district and looked around, wondering which way to go next. Then he felt eyes on him from a side street.

“—?”

He turned to look.

“………”

Across the main path was a woman standing by the side of the road, staring directly at him.

Blond hair. Skin so pale it was almost sickly. She wore an ordinary jacket and jeans—easy to move in. Lloyd recognized her.

“The woman from the photo!”

The one Sardin had showed him. This was Ubi—Sardin had called her his wife.

A carriage passed between them.

The moment his view of her was obscured, she vanished.

“…Did she go down the alley? Does she want me to follow?”

She’d left only a faint trail for him to track—traces of dust, sounds of movement up ahead. He moved farther down the narrow alley. As the noises of the main drag faded, the path opened up, and he found her sitting on a pile of scrap wood. This seemed to be a vacant lot, abandoned mid-construction. There was more than enough room—and it was quiet enough—for a fight.

“You didn’t hesitate to follow,” she called out.

“Um,” Lloyd said, tensing up. “You seemed to want me to follow you, so… Was I wrong?”

Ubi’s eyes widened slightly at his response, but that look soon faded. “…Bluff all you like.”

This pale woman had taken his nerves as an act, one designed to make her underestimate him.

“That won’t work on me,” she warned.

Lloyd hadn’t been trying anything of the sort, so he was just confused.

Then he found a knife at his throat.

The wind whistled.

Without any sign or sound of her advance, Ubi’s blade was upon him. Anyone else would have died without even realizing what had happened.

Lloyd sidestepped it easily.

“……!” She shifted her grip, swinging again—and once more, Lloyd made it look effortless.

“Tch!”

He’d deflected Ubi’s blow with such speed, she lost her balance and went down on one knee.

She was back on her feet and attacking again in no time. Now using walls and wood piles as footholds, she came at him from all directions, trying to slip past Lloyd’s guard.

“At these speeds, even you can’t—!”

Her knife hurtled toward Lloyd’s temple.

“Whoa!”

Lloyd caught the blade between two fingers like it was easy. It was clearly not humanly possible. Ubi leaped backward, suddenly cautious.

“…You’re good,” she noted, astonished.

Lloyd was every bit as surprised. She just attacked me…and took a pretty big fall when I deflected it lightly… Ohhh!

Lloyd straightened up, calling out to her.

“You’re Ubi, right?”

She answered with silence.

“Thank you for helping me out!” he said, bowing low.

“Huh?” She frowned, genuinely rattled now.

Lloyd didn’t notice at all. He just looked up, an expression of deep gratitude on his face.

“You’re trying to improve my acting, right? You’re the producer!”

“The…producer? What’s that?”

“Sardin called you his wife during our improv scene the other day. That was a metaphor! I’ve heard the director is the father and the producer is the mother!”

“Sardin said… What is he doing?” Ubi clutched her forehead, unable to keep up with Lloyd’s multiple layers of distortion. “…Are you serious, or is this some sort of joke? I’ve never met anyone this hard to deal with.”

Like a sales rep trying to serve an incoherent customer, she was clearly giving up on her usual playbook.

“You saw how bad I was at action scenes and invited me here to help!” Lloyd exclaimed, proud of himself for figuring it out. “Thank you so much! You’re a great actor yourself! I really thought you were an assassin trying to kill me!”

Lloyd was all ready for a one-on-one lesson on how to pull off stunts.

The only thing he was right about was the part where she had been trying to kill him.

“You…mean every word of that?” Ubi asked, clutching her head.

“Yes! I think you’re marvelous! You might be producing this film, but you’re actually an action film actress, right? The way you use these props—I can’t wait to get started! What page of the script are we on?”

“Actress? Props? Script?” Ubi squeaked, panic rising with each word.

Then she forced herself to calm down, lowered her center of gravity, and brandished her knife.

“You may weave a cloud of confusion with your words, but I’m not letting that distract me.”

The moonlight glinted off her blade.

“I must slay you here for the sake of my family.”

“Uh…was that line in the script?”

The more serious Ubi got, the more Lloyd’s reactions ruined it all, and she was getting increasingly frustrated by this.

Lloyd had pulled the script out of his pocket, oblivious to her frustration. He flipped through it, searching for that line. Then…

“It’s not in here! Then it must be improv! Oh, this is great for my action-movie training!”

Improv was like a magic word for Lloyd now.

“Blabbing about training and acting won’t rattle—!” Ubi started, but Lloyd had launched into his own version of “movie action.”

“Hah!” He’d scooped up a rusty nail from the ground and hurled it at her.

A nail had been lying there, buffeted by wind and rain for days on end…and he threw it with such force, it buried itself in a brick wall like a shotgun shell.

“Huh?”

Before Ubi could recover from her shock, Lloyd was already improvising more action with nearby objects.

“How about this mop?” he asked, snatching up an old abandoned mop—the kind you use to clean grime and moss off walls. He twirled it like a baton, somewhat inexpertly.

Ubi raised her knife, assuming he was gonna hit her with it. “I can handle a mop,” she said. It was better than a rusty nail bullet anyway.

“If I charge the mop with power…hah!”

“Huh? Power?”

At Lloyd’s yelp, the mop ends began writhing and then sharpened into pointy spikes.

“Coming in hot!” Lloyd took that bed of spikes and swung it right at her, no hesitation at all.

Ubi desperately fled the whirlwind his swing kicked up, ducking low against the wall. She’d come in like a beautiful badass, but there was no trace of that left at all.

“Th-that was close!”

Terrified, she looked up at the wall above her…and saw a gouge in it, like someone had taken a spoon to ice cream.

“That’s a mop, right? Just a mop?!”

“I just copied a lady from my neighborhood, but it went real well!” Lloyd exclaimed happily.

“What kind of neighbors do you have?!”

Kunlun ladies regularly used brooms to dispatch dust and demon lords.

Their battle raged on—perhaps leaning toward the comedy side of action-comedy.

The sounds of it reached another woman, who came racing to the scene.

“Hahh…hahh…hahh…”

The mysterious actress, Mina! Clutching her pendant tight, still in costume, she was trying to catch her breath.

“Huh? Mina?”

“I heard a racket, got a bad feeling, and came running…and it is you. And…”

Her eyes locked on Lloyd’s opponent—Ubi.

Ubi said nothing.

“Er, um, this is…Ubi,” Lloyd introduced. “She’s teaching me about movie stunts!”

Mina point-blank ignored Lloyd’s delusions.

“What are you doing, Mom?” she asked, on the verge of tears.

“Huh? Mom? Is this industry jargon for the producer?”

Ubi did not appear the least bit fazed by Mina’s entrance.

“……Natie.”

“I’ve been looking everywhere! I heard you were dead, but I didn’t believe it! I became a mercenary and scoured Rokujou for you… If you’re alive, get word to me!”

“…” Ubi maintained her silence.

“Say something!” Mina roared. “I thought your last client was suspicious! So I disguised myself as an actress to get closer to Amidine…and finally had a lead, but you just ran off! Why? Why are you working for the mob?!”

Mina looked ready to burst into tears. Ubi was looking increasingly sad, too.

Lloyd was watching, totally left out.

Wow! So this is how professionals do it—by taking the “producer is a movie’s mother” thing to its logical extreme!

He was getting everything wrong again. The Mom thing had been genuinely unexpected.

Ubi fought to keep the sadness off her face, raising the knife.

“Sorry, but I’m no longer a mother. Go back home. Or else—”

“—! You can’t mean that!”

Tension crackled.

Lloyd had just been standing there this whole time, but…

—! Oh! I shouldn’t just watch! I’ve got to contribute! I need to be better at ad-libbing!

Being selected for a lead role was an important duty. He adjusted his performance to fit the serious vibe.

“You shouldn’t lie, Ubi,” he growled.

“What?!” Ubi yelped, caught off guard by his sudden transformation. She turned the knife toward him.

“You think she’s lying, Roy?”

“I’ve seen a lot of people in this line of work,” Lloyd said. “But you’re the worst liar I’ve ever met.”

“…You’re just making stuff up now. You won’t get away with it.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice that look in your eyes? The look of a mother proud to see how her daughter’s grown? That’s why you’ve involved yourself here! You’ve seen every movie Mina’s been in, bought the pamphlet—two copies, one to read and one to keep.”

Lloyd was not hesitating to put any idea that crossed his mind into this ad-lib…

“H-how did you know that?!”

By some miracle, he was exactly right. Ubi had turned bright red. She’d clearly bought two pamphlets.

What a pro! Playing along with my idea like that… It’s amazing.

Lloyd was getting carried away. He decided to double down on his improvisation.

“You even come to watch her filming every chance you get… You’re there five days out of every week she films.”

“G-gah…” Ubi hid her face, at a loss for words.

“Really, Mom? Five—?” Mina asked.

“Not five!” Ubi protested, clearly mortified. “More like four—three!”

So Lloyd was right on the money.

“Whatever you say out loud, inside, you’re still her mom.”

Lloyd might just be ad-libbing, but it sure had changed the tone of this encounter. It was now quite pleasant—enough that Ubi was forced to grudgingly admit the truth.

“W-well, uh…you know, I was worried!”

“Really? Mom!” Mina looked delighted. She stepped closer.

“Why would I not be worried? You became an actress to find me. You started sniffing around the Rising Blue Dragon…and then you started getting famous.”

Ubi suddenly spun to face Lloyd, looking for anything to take the spotlight off herself.

“And you!” she snapped.

“Er, yes?” Lloyd squeaked, forgetting to act.

“You and Natie seem awfully comfortable. Are you two close?”

This came out of nowhere, but since Lloyd thought this was all an improv exercise…

Uh, um…right! I can’t say no here!

Allan’s rules were ironclad. He replied immediately.

“She’s certainly important to me.”

A puff of steam shot out of Mina’s ears.

“Whaaaa? Y-you mean…whaaaaa?”

The sudden romantic confession had totally blindsided her.

“Looks like I’m right,” Ubi said, a smirk appearing on her lips. “Sorry I attacked you. Look after her for me. I can’t guarantee your safety, though… Ask Sardin to get you two as far from here as possible.”

“No! You have to come with us! And why would King Sardin—?”

Then Mina saw someone coming up the path.

“I figured I’d keep an eye on things—but this explains everything. The rising star was your daughter? No wonder she was poking her nose in my affairs.”

It was Amidine. He was clapping as he spoke.

“So you are the boss of the Rising Blue Dragon!” Mina snarled, bracing herself.

Amidine grinned. “That I am! What about it?”

“Amidine…she’s…”

“I won’t harm her. We need the movie business to be a success! Can’t go losing young talent.”

Amidine turned to glare at Lloyd.

“But there you have it, Mr. Akizuki. If you want your beloved Mina and her mother to live, I’ll have you bow out here. They matter more than your mission, right?”

“What are you talking about? There’s…there’s nothing between—and it’s three against one! You’re the one who should be bowing out!”

Mina started casting a water spell.

Amidine faced her down.

And Ubi stepped between them, face twisted in anguish.

“Mom? Why?!”

Amidine cackled. “This woman? She’s already dead.”

Amidine pulled a bloodred jewel out of his pocket, grinning.

“The power to control the living dead…I killed this woman and used necromancy to bring her back to life! She’s my own personal zombie!”

“Gah!”

Amidine must have used the jewel to command her. Ubi pulled out her knife and placed it to her own throat, grimacing.

“Mom! Stop!”

“Sorry, Natie…”

“But if her head and torso are severed, she’ll be gone for good. Well? Willing to give up on ever speaking to your mom again?”

Mina grit her teeth but let the water spell dissipate.

“Heh, you had to do this the hard way. Right, Mr. Akizuki, after that little demonstration, do you still plan to fight?”

“Roy…I’m sorry…”

“So says the girl you love. Are you ready…to die for her?”

Amidine pulled out a gun. This was nothing like the one he’d used before—it was much bulkier and clearly far more powerful.

“Huh? Is that some sort of portable camera? Is the film stored inside it somehow?”

“You fool!” He pulled the trigger, and there was a thunderous crack. Lloyd’s face exploded.

“R-Roy!”

Lloyd was flung backward into the wall behind him. Smoke rose from his face. It smelled of burning flesh…and was a sight grisly enough to make anyone want to look away. His body slid down the side of the building, crumpling in a heap on the ground.

Amidine glanced down at the barrel of his weapon.

“A portable bazooka—what a ridiculous machine. Who are our sponsors? This made barbecue of his face. If bullets to the chest and face don’t work, then I gotta blow his face clean off… This time, it must have been fatal. Oww…”

He rubbed his hand. The kick must have been pretty nasty.

Mina gave him a look of fury, but he just grinned at her.

“You’re gonna be a movie star!” he exclaimed. “Don’t look so scary.”

“I would never—!”

“Sorry, but the movie business demands it. Whatever your motives, people are responding. And your mother wants you kept happy…so don’t fight it. If I die, the necromancy ends, and you can say good-bye to your mom’s soul as it goes on up to heaven.”

Amidine waved the jewel in Ubi’s direction.

Unable to control herself, Ubi hit Mina in the side of her neck. She crumpled to the ground.

“Wow, your mom really doesn’t hold back!”

“—! You forced me to—”

Amidine reached down, scooping up an item that had come spilling out of Mina’s shirtfront.

“Whew, she was really a step away—close one.”

“What is that pendant? Stealing things now? Like a petty thief?”

“Aww, don’t be like that! This was mine to begin with. But I’m in a good mood, so I’ll let it pass. Nothing feels better than finishing off an enemy with your own two hands. Haven’t felt this good since I killed the last boss! Be proud of that, Mr. Akizuki.”

With a sinister chuckle, Amidine walked away. Ubi gave her unconscious daughter a look of sorrow—and followed after.

A few minutes later…

“Uh…was that the right improv choice?”

Lloyd just got up like nothing was wrong. He took a handkerchief out and wiped the soot off his face. It had the disenchant rune stitched into it, so he was soon back to normal.

“Man, real actors and producers sure are intense—I really felt like he was a mafia boss! Oh, Mina!”

Lloyd held Mina up, patting her cheeks.

But she didn’t wake up.

“Uh…did she fall asleep? We did start shooting awfully early. Being a movie actress must take its toll on your body…”

He decided to pick her up and carry her back to the cadets’ lodgings.

“I can’t just leave her here. We can put her up in one of our rooms…but I’m still in my grown-up form! Wait, everyone knows about that now. I can go like this… Still, she looks awfully familiar…”

Especially with her eyes closed, she looked like someone he knew. Trying to place it, Lloyd leaped from building to building.

Bounding across the moonlit sky, it only took grown-up Lloyd a few minutes to reach their hotel.

His friends were waiting outside, worried by his late return.

“Lloyd…Belladonna…I will crush you!”

“Now, now, Micona. Selen, keep that belt tight.”

“Geez…you’re the worst kind of stalker,” Selen grumbled.

“Like you’re any better, Belt Princess! Where is Lloyd? I need to apologize!”

“……Anyone have any sedatives?”

At least one of this crew was less worried than gunning for his life.

Lloyd landed softly in front of them. The sight of his handsome face floating down out of the night sky made Selen’s heart skip a beat.

“Oh, Sir Lloyd! You’ve come by moonlight to whisk me away from here!”

But her fantasy faded the moment she noticed his arms had an occupant—Mina, unconscious. Selen’s heart skipped several more beats—almost stopping entirely.

“M’lady, don’t have a heart attack yet!” Riho said, giving her chest compressions. Selen pulled through…and immediately demanded answers.

“Sir Lloyd! Why are you clutching a movie star in your arms?! Why is she asleep?! I am the only heroine in your life—!”

Phyllo took a vise grip on a chunk of Selen’s cheek flesh, stopping her.

“…Mina?” She squinted at the sleeping actress.

“L-Lloyd! You’re so grown up! In several ways!” Allan shrieked. “I never thought you’d become a real man! I must apologize for my behavior the other day! And I swear to live by your example! Ow! Help!”

The conclusions Allan had leaped to had earned him the ire of every girl present. Lots of feet stomping on his toes. Ow.

“But seriously, Lloyd, what’s going on?” Riho asked. “You didn’t really—”

Before she could even finish, Choline floated out of the gate, eyes totally dead.

“Lights out, kids.”

“Oh, sorry, Colonel Choline! This is kind of important.”

“Lights out.”

“Uh…Colonel? What’s going on with you? Yesterday you were all angry; today you’ve like, achieved nirvana?”

“Oh, nothing. Just here I am in Rokujou, but I can’t even have a drink, go outside, sleep, do anything! I oughtta sue somebody.”

“Clearly you have hardships of your own…”

“It’s not fair! And you’re all having fun where I can see it? That’s a crime! Get back to your rooms.”

Rokujou had asked them to come help, but two full days had passed without anyone getting in touch with her. She’d spent that whole time on edge and was well past her limit. She was seriously one step away from turning evil.

She turned and drifted off down the hall, growling, “Any naughty children still awake?” like a child-eating monster.

“Sorry, Mina isn’t waking up… I couldn’t just leave her there, so I brought her back with me.”

Riho looked relieved to hear this. “That’s what I figured!”

“You were the most upset, Riho Flavin,” Micona observed, peering out from her bondage.

“Hngg,” Riho moaned, unable to refute that accusation.

“I don’t give a goddamn who Lloyd Belladonna hooks up with—as long as it isn’t Marie—but you should probably find a bed for that girl.”

For once, Micona was actually being mature and offering good advice.

“Yeah, we can figure out what’s going on once she wakes up. Don’t wanna piss Colonel Choline off, either…and Allan looks half-dead…”

“…Mm.” Phyllo took Mina from Lloyd and started off indoors, almost at a run.

“Yo, Phyllo! What’s the hurry?”

“……Mm.”

With her usual indecipherable grunt, Phyllo vanished into her room.

“‘Mm’ doesn’t tell us crap! Only Mena can figure those out…”

“Come, Riho, back to our rooms. Oh, Sir Lloyd, our room is this way—”

“Don’t try and sneak him in with you!”

“We’d better get back. Colonel Choline’ll chew us out… If someone could lend me a shoulder…” Allan groaned.

“And untie me?” Micona asked.

As they all headed back to their rooms, Lloyd was still stuck on Mina’s sleeping face.

“I swear I’ve seen it before…the way her eyes close…”

Thinking about it wasn’t getting him anywhere. He decided going to bed earlier would help him get ready for tomorrow’s shoot.

Meanwhile, in Amidine’s apartment…

Face flushed from the bottle of well-aged wine he’d downed, Amidine dove into bed.

“Heh-heh-heh…I can finally sleep again! I’m back in the lead role! Rising Blue Dragon will continue to rule Rokujou from the shadows! I’ll get everything I ever wanted and live a life of fulfillment! Can’t wait for tomorrow.”

He was so wound up, he was downright out of character! The following day was shaping up to be fun.

In the morning, Amidine rolled out of bed feeling great to be alive. His eyes were a bit puffy, likely from the wine.

As he smoked his morning cigarette, he spoke to himself in the mirror.

“Good morning, asshole. You finally killed that little shit. Heh-heh-heh.”

He donned his usual suit and turned to the mirror once more.

“…It worked this time, right? He’s not just gonna show up again, right?”

He waved a hand at his reflection, as if waylaying its fears.

“Pfft, don’t worry, Amidine Oxo. He’s finished. Even a monster like him can’t survive that!”

Remembering how Lloyd had been powerless to stop his face turning to barbecue, he grinned.

“Never figured he’d fall for Mina. Made it so easy to finish him off. Even a freak like Mr. Akizuki turned out to be human in the end. Don’t worry—you won’t see him again. Today won’t be a repeat of yesterday!”

Having Lloyd just turn up for work like nothing had happened had really been traumatizing.

Then his henchman knocked at the door, announcing the arrival of his carriage.

“Good morning, Amidine.”

He’d arrived at the exact same time as the day before, which gave Amidine déjà vu…

“You couldn’t have shown up earlier…or later? One or the other?”

The underling wasn’t sure how to respond to that. But can you blame Amidine? He didn’t want to jinx himself. Once one noticed an omen, it was hard to dismiss it.

“Uh…which is better?” his minion managed.

“Just…don’t do things like we did yesterday. Please.”

“Right, I’ll…try. You came back late last night…”

“What did I just say?! I killed him! I got the pendant back! Don’t make me say it again!”

This was hardly fair, but the minion had said the same thing the day before.

“Er…that’s the first time I’ve heard any of that?” he squeaked. It was hard to know how to respond to an angry boss when you weren’t sure why he was so wound up.

“Argh, sorry. Just…feels like you’re jinxing things. Bad case of déjà vu, I guess.”

“Wow, sounds like you’re pretty tired…I’ll wait at the carriage.”

“Today is not like yesterday… It’s a brand-new day… Today will be great!”

Amidine hummed a little song to himself the whole way to the shooting location, as if trying to banish his fears.

And the moment he got to set…

“Good morning!”

Lloyd was there, waiting for him.

“How are you still here?! Why did I bother humming?!” Amidine shrieked, looking ready to burst a blood vessel.

“Er…I am on time, right?”

“That’s not the probleeeeeem…!”

Heedless of the crowd around him, Amidine crumpled to the ground.

Whyyyy? I shot him in the face with a bazooka! I smelled his flesh burning! It was super inappropriate, but I was left craving a good grilled steak!

“Um, is something wrong?”

How is he fine? Wait! This is just like yesterday! Am I stuck in a time loop?

Sadly, no. Lloyd had merely mistaken that for an improv exercise.

The sight of Amidine writhing on the ground was making Sardin worried.

“A-are you okay, Amidine?”

“I’m fine! I’m so not fine! But let’s say I’m fine!”

“So you aren’t?”

Amidine’s minions on the crew were worried, too. Their boss was always impeccably confident, but not today.

“Er, Amidine?”

“What do I do? How…? My future… Everything I ever wanted… I just need a weapon that can kill him!”

Then he remembered Sou and Shouma and all the insane technology they’d happily offered.

“That’s right!”

“Er, Amidine?”

“Yes! I just have to steal from them! Steal the ultimate weapon!”

Amidine leaped to his feet. All trace of his movie star aura had gone—all that was left was a hideous, insatiable ghoul.

“They’re the ones who stole the lead from me… It’s only right I steal something back! I’ll kill them…and steal their weapon! I’ll have Ubi do it… Even if she dies, I can use her daughter instead… Even use Sardin…heh…heh-heh-heh…”

“S-seriously, what ails you, Amidine?”

“Gather all the weapons! It’s time for war!”

“W-war?!”

“Everyone in the underground layers! It’s time we went after those sponsors and swiped everything they’ve got!”

His eyes locked on something far away, Amidine staggered off the set.